Caster
by Kuldain
Summary: Gene Starwind accepts a simple mission from a new client and has to protect a castersmith named Naruto. But when it comes to Naruto, nothing is that simple... Naruto/Outlaw Star xover Naru/Aisha
1. A new mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Outlaw Star.

A groan came from behind the computer monitor as a young boy named Jim Hawking stared at the results of this month's income for his partnered business of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises.

"_In the red again...man, even though everything is back to normal I wish _something_ would go our way! After finding the Galactic Leyline and saving Melfina, you would think Gene would have more luck getting a simple job or two,"_ he thought ruefully while taking a sip of fresh coffee. The slightly bitter taste and the comforting warmth made him feel better, that is until his "partner" walked through the door.

Gene Starwind. A tall, broad shouldered guy with freshly cut red hair on his head and old battle scars all over his body, staggered in with a defeated look on his face. He flopped down on the couch by Jim's desk and muttered a quick hello to his younger counterpart. Jim leaned over the couch and sent a glare, prompting a staring contest between the two until Gene finally broke down and asked dejectedly, "What do you want Jim?"

The dark blonde, blue-eyed tech genius took a deep breath and shouted, "GET US SOME WORK! WE ARE STILL WAY IN THE RED!"

Gene's eye twitched as he struggled to regain his hearing, "Yeah, yeah, I hear you Jim, but even if I say we have a ton of experience in our line of work, there just isn't that much out there at the moment!"

Jim crossed his arms in thought and gave the ominous line, "You know..."

"Oh great, here it comes."

"We should ask Fred for a loa-"

"No!" Gene shouted, "No, no, no! I am not doing any more begging to Fred! You remember when we had to do that crazy space race? The damn thing nearly got us killed going through it, just to get a loan!"

"You were the one that wanted to fly through the ether stream in the first place!"

Gene opened his mouth to say something but shut it as the door to the apartment on the second floor opened and a young black haired woman in a deep blue dress came out of her room. "Hiya Mel, G'morning!"

She smiled back, "Good morning Gene, Jim!"

Jim also gave a smile despite his foul mood, "Hey Melfina, sleep well?"

"Yes I did Jim, but I was woken up by some shouting down here so I thought you two could use some breakfast."

The sounds of pans and cupboards opening along with her gentle humming diffused the tense situation. Soon enough, the smell of eggs and bacon wafted through the air and Gene felt his mouth begin to water.

"Mmm, that smells as good as always Melfina!" Jim grinned as he looked at the large plate of food before him.

Melfina simply smiled at the boy's appetite and watched happily as he ate with gusto. She looked around and asked, "Where are Suzuka and Aisha at?"

"Aisha is probably out shopping or something and Suzuka? Well, who knows?" Gene shrugged as he shoved some food into his mouth noisily. After the food began to settle in their stomachs, Jim brought out a small data pad from his pocket and showed the financial situation to Gene again.

"See, Gene? We are seriously in debt _again_ and we really need a job or something to get us out of it! Come on, we have to go see Fred, if not for a loan then maybe a small job!"

Gene scratched his head and frowned, "Alright fine, but if nothing good comes out of this we are selling you to Fred!" Jim shivered at the thought of being a…toy for the guy.

"Fine, it's a deal, but I know we will get something." Jim sighed, secretly hoping that he wouldn't regret his words.

Gene picked up his usual equipment: a pistol, his old caster gun, his light shield gloves and his trusty yellow cloak and left a message for the others saying that they would be back whenever.

* * *

The trio entered the large penthouse of Fred Luo, a wealthy weapons merchant and old friend of Gene's. He was an easy guy to get along with, although Gene would probably remark that Fred was a little _too_ easy to get along with. The lavish quarters were filled with exquisite art from wall to wall, very expensive looking furniture, a couple of crystal chandeliers, and of course the man they were looking for, under the careful watch of his black suit bodyguards.

Fred waved lazily at Gene and his friends from a small leather couch as he took a sip from a glass full of deep red wine with the utmost satisfaction playing across his face. "Well well, look who came out of the chop shop, my good pals Gene and Jim, and of course the lovely Miss Melfina!" He gave a smile and held his glass out in a small cheer before taking another sip. "What brings you three to my humble abode? Here to pay off some of your debt I hope." The redhead winced inwardly, remembering the fortune he owed Fred for all of his previous loans.

"Well, uh, about that, you see Fred, we are kind of in the red right now so I was wondering if you had any work that we could to do to get our feet back on the ground and start paying you off as soon as the cash comes flowing in again?" Gene gave his best professional smile despite practically begging to be let off the hook yet again for the debts he owed. Fred swirled the wine slowly before smiling happily.

"Nope, sorry, nothing for you at the moment. At this rate Gene, you're never going to pay me back. Didn't you say you found that, oh what was it called, Galactic Leyline or something? Wasn't that supposed to be your 'Big Break'? Sorry, but until you pay back some of your debt, there is simply nothing I can do to help you!" The man finished chewing out Gene and worse, made it clear that no help was going to come their way any time soon.

Gene and Jim's mouths practically hit the floor in shock, "What do you mean you won't help us anymore? I thought we were friends!" Gene shouted while a calm Melfina looked onward. Jim also rebounded from his shock in order to attempt his least favorite ploy (against Fred anyway).

"Please Fred, we need money to get us out of this financial crisis we are in," Jim said with fake tears welling up in his eyes, "We need something to get us by for year, or if not that, then just a few months, please?" Gene considered following along, but thought better of lowering himself that much, he had _some _pride after all!

Fred let out a small sigh, "Fine, fine. How you always manage to catch me on a good day I'll never know." He placed his glass on the small marble table next to the couch and gave a small smile. "I just happened to meet an old acquaintance of mine a few weeks ago and we began dealing business quite well. I don't have any work for you but I am thinking that she just might have something right up your alley." He signed a quick note and handed it to a bodyguard who silently gave it to Gene and moved immediately back into his position.

Gene squinted his eyes while attempting to read the man's intricate cursive, "Tsu-na-de? Tsunade? I've never heard of her." His comment drew a collective sigh from both Jim and Fred.

"Don't you get it Gene? She just started back in business, you think we would have heard about her so soon?" The boy gave a small shake of his head in disappointment at his older counterpart. _"Sometimes I feel a bit worried about you Gene. Where would you even be without me?"_ Melfina finally spoke for the first time, surprising all of the men.

"Um, but if she has just come into the business, how do we know she isn't a crook?" She asked in her sweet and innocent tone. Gene only smiled before answering.

"Well Mel, if someone as big in the industry as Fred trusts her, then I am fine with it." He spoke with a light confidence towards her, easing her worries. Fred put down his glass and rushed to hug a now regretful Gene.

"Oh Gene, I can't stay mad at you! You are _indeed_ my great friend!" He exclaimed with tears in his eyes. Gene forced back a scowl and tried to make the best of the situation.

"So, if that's true, can we get some more help from you then?" Fred's cries of happiness immediately stopped as he looked up at the redhead.

"Nope."

Gene shoved the man away as hard as he could and turned on his heels to walk out the door. Fred smiled as the trio walked out the door, "They are really fun to be around."

* * *

After driving around the city to find the address of Fred's acquaintance, they entered a large building that seemed bleak on the outside, yet the inside was furnished modestly well, considering the business was just starting out. There were five floors total with several elevators seen moving up and down in an unseen rhythm, people were moving from floor to floor, getting what they needed for whatever client they were working for. Gene walked up to the receptionist desk with Jim and Melfina cautiously in tow. The woman behind the desk looked up from her paperwork as she straightened her posture. She was a thin, slightly athletic woman that had short black hair and had a simple look that still caught the eye. She gave a smile that oozed professionalism but was still friendly to all.

"Greetings and welcome to Konoha Industries, how may I help you?" Gene looked at her nameplate facing outward on her desk. A small holographic text was displaying the name "Shizune." Once again putting on a professional smile as best he could, he spoke up,

"Ah hi there Shizune, we're friends of Fred Luo, and he said we might be able to get a meeting with Tsunade."

Hearing both names immediately put her at her best attention, "Oh! Uh, yes sir, mister..?"

"Starwind, Gene Starwind," the redheaded man grinned while motioning to the others, "And these are my friends Jim Hawking and Melfina." Shizune gave a quick smile in affirmation to them, and pointed towards a large leather couch.

"Please wait while I contact Tsunade, it should only be a moment." She calmly picked up her phone and dialed a few digits, whispering in the receiver end. Jim saw a small dressed up pig walk by and pointed it out to Melfina.

"Hey Melfina, look! That little pig is wearing clothes!" He let out a chuckle at the strange sight. Melfina smiled and went over to pet the pig, but it quickly saw her and hid inside Shizune's desk in a panic.

"Ah, sorry about that, Tonton is my pet pig. She is usually very shy, but she's quite friendly once you get to know her." The raven haired woman gave a warm hug to the tiny pig and put it back down on the floor. "Tsunade will see you up on the 5th floor Mr. Starwind. Just take the elevator and go straight down the hall, you can't miss it."

Gene stretched as best he could on the couch and got up, "Thanks, and no need to call me 'Mr. Starwind,' just plain Gene will do." Jim sighed at the man. Apparently he couldn't help flirting with other women despite the fact that his girlfriend was standing right next to him! The blond gave a quick stomp on his foot in annoyance since Melfina was busy watching Tonton.

"Jeez Gene, tone it down a bit will ya?" Jim said.

"Sorry Jim, old habits die hard!" He grinned.

They walked through the building, Jim noticed the sun was starting to set as the golden yellow rays began to filter through the sunroofs and display the Konoha symbol onto the lobby floor. _"Konoha huh? That sounds a bit familiar, but where have I heard it before?"_ He gave a mental shrug and followed Gene and Melfina into the awaiting elevator. The doors soon opened to a large hallway illuminated by small covered lamps before each door's entrance. The final set of doors near the end were very ornate cherry red wood, with the company logo yet again showing up as a perfect carving on the door.

"This must be the place." Gene muttered. Jim held a quip back and looked at Gene.

"Gene, make sure you are on your _best_ behavior. No womanizing, no cussing, no guns. _ONLY_ business. Got it?" Jim stood adamantly in front of the door, blocking the path to make sure his partner fully understood that he didn't want to mess up any more business opportunities before they even got to talks.

Gene shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, I know Jim," he turned to Melfina, "Hey Mel, would you mind watching him here while I get us some work?" Melfina gave her cheerful smile.

"Sure Gene, make sure to do your best. If you do, I'll make your favorite dinner tonight in celebration!" She sat on the small padded bench next to the door and pat the spot next to her, "Come on Jim."

Jim inwardly groaned at still being treated like a child, but couldn't help but feel a little happy to spend some time with Melfina. He walked over to the bench while still giving Gene a somewhat serious glare and finally sat down. Gene returned the glare even though he knew that Jim was technically right on all counts about his behavior. He just didn't like to admit it. Gene rapped on the large door and they opened inward to let him in and as soon as he was inside, they closed once again.

The office was far less extravagant compared to Fred Luo's place, but considering that the woman probably didn't live here, it was still pretty nice. A large oak desk was in the far back of the room, and sitting behind it was one of the most gorgeous women that Gene had ever seen. Her light blond hair was tied into a gentle ponytail and framed her face perfectly. She had a light green gem on the center of her forehead which accented her light colored skin, thin eyebrows that floated over her incredible honey brown eyes and her perfect lips practically glistened as he looked at her. Her light jacket seemed to hug her every curve just right, and Gene felt he would be lying if he didn't think that she had the largest pair of "assets" that he had ever seen.

"-wind? Mr. Starwind?" A voice shook him out of his daze. "Mr. Starwind, are we going to talk or are you just going to stare all day?" He finally remembered the reason he was there and shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts.

"Sorry about that, Ms. Tsunade. My name is Gene Starwind of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, and I am a good friend of Fred Luo's. He told me I should come here since there is a job you might have for me?" He walked forward, noticing that the carpet was as plush as it gets, and sat down in a very comfortable leather chair that seemed to mold to his shape.

The blond woman waited until he was seated to continue, "Ah yes, Fred's friend. Yes, he told me _all_ about you," she said with a slight twinkle of mischief in her voice, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad, he has nothing but high praise for you and your crew, even telling me that you saved his life from the infamous 'Twilight' Suzuka." She leaned back in her chair and gave a small chuckle, "Though he does not hold back on mentioning your ability to hold a long debt Mr. Starwind."

Gene inwardly winced again and made a mental note to force Fred to reconsider what he tells other business partners, "Ah, yeah, we had a big operation going on at the time and needed a lot of money for financing it so it just kind of built up on us. Oh and call me Gene by the way." He gave a smile, hoping to score a few points for being friendly.

"Alright then Gene, aside from your debt problem with Fred, you seem very qualified for the job I had in mind. Do you-" The lights suddenly shut off and a loud _click_ was heard as the lights came back on, revealing Gene with his hand floating just above Tsunade's bosom and staring down the multiple barrels of a large gatling gun. "You squeeze, I squeeze, _Gene_," she whispered deadly quiet as she stared at him with extremely cold eyes.

A nervous chuckle softly emit from his mouth as Gene raised his hands up and slowly backtracked to his chair. The woman's enormous gatling gun following his every movement. _"What the hell? Where did __**that**__ come from? And how the hell is she able to hold the damn thing with __**one hand**__?!" _He thought as a bead of sweat trickled down his face.

After what was an eternity, Tsunade finally dropped the gun with a loud _thud_ onto the floor and rubbed her temples with her fingers while closing her eyes in a grimace. "Damn it, another fucking power outage? Why must Naruto continue to work on that blasted cannon of his?"

Gene struggled to regain his composure and sat up, listening intently, "Naruto? Who is that?"

"Naruto is my surrogate little brother. He's always in his workshop, testing out random things to see how far he can get with them. His latest ambition is create a working, spaceship-sized caster, but the only thing he ever accomplishes is these damn power outages or worse, explosions that could probably destroy a whole city block." She fought back the urge to throw something very hard, and forced herself to return to business. "Well, lucky for you Gene, he is the one that I was going to tell you about."

Gene sat forward in his seat, waiting for her to continue. "Your job is to protect Naruto."

"A bodyguard deal? Is that it? That's not too hard for me to handle." Gene said smugly.

Tsunade continued while ignoring his comment, "He is currently being pursued by the Kei pirates, being that he is one of the only known living Castersmiths in existence today."

Gene held up his hand, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute. You're saying that this guy is a Castersmith? A _real_ Castersmith?" She nodded. "Why the hell haven't I heard of him until now?"

She sighed and stared back at the man, "Because if he went around saying he was a Castersmith, then he would obviously be hunted by so many people _besides_ the Kei pirates that he would be either driven insane or be pressured into creating something that would most likely start intergalactic wars."

"Good point. So do I have to take him anywhere specific?" Gene said.

"Finally getting to business," Tsunade smirked, she handed him a small envelope, "I need you to take Naruto to Heifong III and meet with my informant, Jiraiya. He will tell you more about his situation."

"Jiraiya, got it. Keep the guy safe from harm's way and meet the informant in Heifong III," He paused before asking, "How much will I get paid for this?"

She brought out a small digital pad and wrote down a number, causing Gene to let out a low whistle, "I must have him safely brought to Jiraiya, Gene. I want nothing, and I mean _nothing_ to happen to him or you will not receive a single wulong, got it?" Gene knew if this job was done fast and done well he would be sitting pretty for a good decade or so, and stared Tsunade directly in the eye.

"I understand, consider it done." A small smile crept onto the blond woman's face as she held out her perfectly manicured hand to shake. As soon as Gene gripped it, he felt his hand almost being crushed in a vice.

"Oh, and by the way, if you _**ever **_try to grope me again, there is going to be more than a gatling gun up your ass." She gave a happy smile that betrayed the venom behind her words. It took an immense amount of will power to not scream at the crushing strength of the beautiful woman. Tsunade released her grip and wrote down the address for Naruto's workshop, handing it silently to Gene who was currently biting his tongue, trying not to scream at the intense pain in his right hand as he walked out to meet his companions.

Jim and Melfina rose as one and immediately had expected things had gone wrong until Gene gave a grin and showed the envelope and address to Naruto's workshop.

"Come on guys, let's get out of here." Gene said over his shoulder as quickly as he could away from the office doors. Jim and Melfina cheered at Gene as they followed right behind him. As the trio headed down the hall, the lights dimmed once again, causing Gene to groan, "This guy is going to be a handful."

* * *

_**A/N: **_Okay, back with a new story (Big thanks to my beta)! Decided to try something new so please R&R and let me know what you think. Update to my other fic is also on the way soon!


	2. Naruto the Castersmith

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Outlaw Star

A loud beeping noise came from somewhere. Uzumaki Naruto, Castersmith and inventor, waved his hand around until he could finally hit the alarm clock and shut it down. He slowly forced his eyes open, waiting for them to focus as he feebly tried to remember when he fell asleep. The young man's gaze drifted over several of his failed blueprints for his dream weapon, the Caster Cannon. So many littered his desk that there was hardly space for much else. He had no real pictures, no awards (ungrateful bastards don't recognize his sheer talent) or anything. Naruto did have his favorite orange mug though, currently filled with cold, who knows how old, coffee. Finally deciding it was time to get up, he pushed back on his favorite chair, invented and manufactured by one Uzumaki Naruto, and had it glide him into what he hoped was the bathroom.

As soon as the chair went through the bathroom's threshold, the automatic lights flickered on, making him squint his eyes in discomfort. The chair stopped directly in front of the sink and rose up enough so he could reach over and turn the faucet on to wash up. The cold water immediately made him more awake to the world and he was able to fully open his eyes and look himself in the mirror. He was 17 years old and had been living on his own practically his whole life. His hair was a bright yellow and he considered it unruly on the best of days. Since he hadn't had any real time to get it cut for a while (or indeed, do much of anything), he decided to let it grow so that it covered most of his neck. His blue eyes, although a bit tired looking, had a bit of a gleam to them in the artificial light and the three small whisker markings on each of his cheeks gave him a somewhat fox-like appearance. After brushing his teeth and doing his best to tame his hair to something acceptable, he pushed his palms on the chair's armrests and it slowly lowered him back down and returned to his desk. Naruto smiled at how perfect this invention turned out, it took him everywhere in his workshop and never made a single fuss, unlike _somebody_ he was working with. His gaze turned to the large cannon that hung silently in the air beside him.

"YEAH, YOU!" He pointed dramatically towards it. It never worked. Or as he liked to think, it didn't _want_ to work. It was simply unwilling to do his bidding no matter how many times he coaxed it, begged it, yelled at it, hit it, you name it. The young blond spent at least six months on trying to get the damn thing to work. Most of the time when it thought about coming to life, it ultimately decided to not give a shit and go back to sleep. Obviously, this results in one pissed off Uzumaki Naruto who flies into a rage at any little mishap the rest of the day.

"I'll be back to deal with you later," Naruto grumbled as the chair rolled towards the kitchen. Although he had a kitchen, it was the least used room in his entire workshop, mainly because he never cooked a single thing. He just never had the time to go out and buy groceries, prepare the meals, and so on. It took too much time away from his work and usually his inventions would keep him so occupied that he forgot about meals entirely. However, a few years back he had discovered a miracle food that he could count on for all of his nourishment for the day: instant ramen! Since it was cheap, it allowed him to save most of his money for more equipment and supplies. It was also something you could buy in mass quantities and make in three minutes flat. The fact that it came in such a large variety of flavors was simply a bonus.

The chair came to a stop in front of a large pantry door. The blond's stomach seemed to recognize the door and let out a low growl as he reached forward and grasped the handle with a happy grin on his face. The door opened smoothly (after scanning his fingerprints of course) and revealed an enormous trove of ramen he had formally dubbed "The Vault." Naruto's chair moved slowly forward, allowing him to look at each shelf of organized flavors, as he chose a number of cups for breakfast, lunch, dinner and, of course, a late night snack. The chair backed out of the room and Naruto prepared the hot water for his breakfast. As soon as his mental timer dinged, he ravenously dug into the steaming cup of ramen. Patting his stomach with a content sigh, he allowed his chair to bring him back to his workbench.

"Ahh, so tasty!" Naruto grinned. "Looks like it's time to get to work!" He picked up his favorite (and only) pair of goggles from the corner of his desk and slipped them over his head. Reaching behind him while tracing a symbol in the air with a finger, a black and orange jacket suddenly appeared in his hand. The blond shrugged it on and zipped it up, going through a quick mental checklist of the tools inside the various pockets. He pulled out a holographic data pad from a large pocket in the front of his jacket and glanced over his notes on latest blueprints. "Let's see, attempt number 428, that failed because of too much energy running through the main chakra coils...number 496 ended up exploding..." Bright blue eyes scanned page after page of results, none coming even close to working. His gaze stopped on the latest entry as he read out loud, "Barrel was warped from overheating during startup, replaced barrel and reinforced it with another layer of heat resistant panels." Sighing, he turned the page and wrote the beginning of a new entry. "Well, the good news is they don't utterly destroy my workshop anymore," he muttered, trying to keep up his spirits. "Alright, let's go!" He shouted, eager to prove his worth.

He crossed his arms and glared at the gigantic piece of metal elevated before him. "You better work this time, damn you!" He gave a small nod of approval at his threat and started configuring the boot up sequence. The Caster Cannon's mechanisms stirred to life as the systems begin to draw the necessary energy from the city's power grid. The cannon was (supposed to be) a large scale version of the pistols that he and various other castersmiths had created in the past and was meant to fire caster rounds of a much larger magnitude. Everything came up green on the display and Naruto couldn't help but feel his eyes widen at the possibility of finally getting the damn thing to work. The energy being created charged the workshop's atmosphere and the young inventor could feel his hairs stand on end. A sharp blue light began emitting from the barrel as the turbines spun furiously in order to convert the energy of the shell in the chamber. It hummed a happy sounding tune and a grin began to appear on Naruto's face as the round was about to fire. Then…everything went dark. No one would ever see his face at the time, but if they did, they would have seen the entire spectrum of human emotion in an instant before the young man's face stuck with disbelief.

A loud banging noise could be heard in the dark as the frustrated blond slammed his head against his desk repeatedly. "Why...why, why, WHY the hell won't you work you piece of shit machine! I am your father and you are going to do as I say!" He snarled. The lights came back on and he saw the machine still hanging there, lounging around, as if openly mocking him. Naruto grabbed a heavy wrench from his desk and flung it as hard as he could at the machine. The machine whirred to life for a second time that day before the lights dimmed again causing him to heave a sigh while sitting down on the cold, hard floor, mumbling, "God...Dammit..."

The power soon came back to life and Naruto calmly stood up and began to write his newest entry, "Attempt number 597, cannon finally ran successfully until power source gave out. Must find a substitute power supply on par with chakra." He underlined the last sentence for importance, and heard his shop's bell ring. While not in the best of moods, he figured that doing some business would help get his mind off of his frustration. Brushing himself off as best as he could to make himself somewhat presentable, he swiped a seal in the air with his palm and a door appeared. He took a deep breath to regain composure and opened the new door to his front desk.

"Welcome to Uzumaki Inc., where the guns are hot and the ammo cheap!"


	3. Inside the workshop

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Outlaw Star

Gene rang the small, old fashioned bell on the counter as he watched Jim drag Melfina through the various aisles of things. The bell gave a cheery _ping_ as he heard Jim point unseen things out to Melfina.

"Oh wow, check this out Melfina! This is incredible! I've never seen so much rare stuff in one place!" The young genius spoke with barely contained awe. Melfina's quiet giggle was her only response. She was enjoying seeing the normally very mature Jim act like a kid in a candy store for once. Gene saw the two rummaging around a clearance box in the corner of his eye and couldn't help but give a smirk at Jim's wide eyes as he scanned through the stuff inside. A soft click came from a door opening up in the back behind the counter and a voice floated through the air.

"Welcome to Uzumaki Inc., where the guns are hot and the ammo cheap!" It called out. The speaker appeared into view, brushing off his jacket and pants, adjusting some worn out goggles on his head while giving Gene an appraising stare. The brightest mop of blond hair coupled with deep blue eyes really struck Gene since there were rarely any people with those features nowadays, especially since no one else had whisker marks on their cheeks.

"So all this stuff is stolen huh? Pretty gutsy move, kid." Gene's smirk faltered as he noticed the blond's eye twitch.

The goggled blond rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yeah, yeah, it's a terrible slogan but I haven't really had any time to fix it. So..." His voice drifted off as he watched Jim pull out a glowing canister gleefully out of the clearance box. The canister suddenly appeared on the counter as a small glow faded from the young man's hand. "Hey Kid, don't touch this, it has a very unstable energy source and the wrong shake could have blown you to pieces." Jim was still staring in shock at the slightly older teen, wondering how he had taken the object from his hands but soon resumed his browsing.

"Anyway," he continued, "What can I do ya for? I don't get too many customers. You need something done to that gun of yours? Or perhaps a custom weapon for the missus?" He glanced over at Melfina who was staring curiously into a small jar filled with small creatures that were glowing different colors. Gene felt his face heat a little at the statement.

"No, she's not my wife, more along the lines of girlfriend, but that's beside the point." He stared the blond in the eye, "I just want to know, are you Uzumaki Naruto?" The blond returned the gaze with a cautious glance.

"Yeah, that's me, what about it?" His voice had a slight hint of anxiety behind them as he glanced quickly between the three patrons.

Gene put out his hand for a handshake, trying to be as casually formal as possible towards the blond, "The name's Gene Starwind. I've been hired by Tsunade of Konoha Inc. to be your bodyguard for the foreseeable future."

Naruto ignored the hand and crossed his arms in distaste, "Tsunade sent you huh? Why would I need a bodyguard?"

"She says that the Kei pirates are coming after you. How she got the info, I have no idea, but the bastards are a threat no matter what, so you're gonna need my help."

"Damn, must've found out from ero-sennin..." Naruto muttered while thinking aloud. He leveled his gaze back to the red haired man and leaned forward on the counter, "How do I know I can trust you, hmm?"

Gene pulled out the envelope that the buxom blond woman had given him, "Tsunade gave me this letter, also instructing me to take you to meet a man by the name of Jiraiya at Heifong III. Oh, and these are my friends, Jim Hawking and Melfina." Naruto saw that Gene's companions had now joined his side as he took the letter, opening it and quickly scanning it wordlessly. Once finished he gave a small sigh, handing the letter back and opening a side door that appeared out of nowhere.

"Alright, looks like you guys really are my new bodyguards, come on down while I grab a few things." He turned and pointed them towards the door as he disappeared in the back.

Gene drifted towards the door and opened it, a bit surprised to see it open to a rather large workshop filled with so many varieties of gadgets and technologies even _he_ hadn't seen before. Jim's blue eyes suddenly widened even more and he let out a loud "Whoa!" while running excitedly from machine to machine, peering closely at each piece as Gene and Melfina entered slowly behind him. Gene closed the door and noticed that as soon as he did, it faded from the wall like it had never existed. He blinked and shrugged, knowing sometimes it was best to wait for answers.

Walking through the various areas of the workshop, they saw many sketches littering the ground. Ideas that were cast aside or possibly developed into bigger, better things. The layers of sketches drew thicker as the group entered another branch of the workshop and found a ridiculously cluttered desk stacked with what looked like blueprints and odd gadgets whose meaning was lost even on Jim. A small cough echoed in the room and the three turned around as Naruto glided towards them in a small hovering chair with a small grin on his face.

"So, what do ya think?" He said with a hint of pride as he swept his arm in a dramatic gesture. Gene shrugged, Melifna smiled in appreciation, and Jim practically exploded.

"Oh this is so awesome! Did you make all of this stuff? How did you do this? How did you figure out the way to balance the physics or...or..." Gene placed his hand on Jim's head to calm him down.

"Sorry about that. Our Jim here is kind of the tech genius of our crew. He doesn't really get to see so much new technology in one place, so he kinda short circuited coming in here." Gene chuckled softly while ruffling the young boy's hair who soon regained composure and swatted his partner's hand away in annoyance. Naruto gave a smile towards the other boy and stood up out of the chair.

"Hey, it's good to see some other people with a love for technology! Here Jim, give it a spin!" He said cheerfully. Jim looked towards Gene who nodded in agreement. Why not let the kid have some fun? It's not often he met someone around his age that shared in the same interests. Jim approached the chair with an almost ecstatic grin on his face and sat in the floating chair.

"Wow, this is really comfy! It feels like it was made just for me!" The boy exclaimed. "But how do I get it to move?" He said while looking around at the armrests for a button or lever. Naruto's smile grew a bit more as his eyes gleamed with pride.

"That's the best part, just think of a direction or place and 'urge' it that way!"

Jim took a moment to process the instructions as he thought of a place he'd like to go. The chair hummed quietly as it whisked over the air and stopped high on the side wall. Jim smiled triumphantly and shouted to the others down below, "This is so cool! I don't even feel the gravity pulling me back down!"

Naruto ran forward a bit and replied, "It has a very small, built-in gravity generator which both repels it from the ground, keeping it aloft, as well as keeping the user from feeling the side effects whatever direction they might go."

The chair glided softly back onto the ground and Jim waved his arms excitedly at Gene and Melfina, explaining what it was like, while Gene pretended to appear interested and Melfina smiled.

"Looks like Naruto is your new friend and rival, isn't he Jim?" She giggled, not noticing the slight spark that erupted in Jim's eyes as she mentioned the word 'rival.'

"_She's right, this is the first time I have met __**anyone**__ that had the same interest as me. This might be the best job that Gene has gotten us yet!"_ The boy thought with a grin appearing on his face. Jim's smile lessened as his stomach grumbled noisily. He smiled, embarrassed at the rather loud noise. He looked back at Melfina, trying not to sound too needy when asking, "Hey Melfina, do you think we could get something to eat?"

Melfina blushed a little as her own stomach seemed to rumble in agreement, "Um, sure Jim. Excuse me, Naruto?" The blond glanced over curiously. "Where is your kitchen? I'm going to make us all some lunch," she replied.

Surprise dawned on his face and he looked downward, guiltily replying, "Ah, well, there is no real food at the moment, all I have is just instant ramen," The young teen laughed while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Seeing the woman simply stand there he realized that she didn't know the way and briskly walked past her, motioning the two of them towards the kitchen. Gene on the other hand was thumbing through the layers of blueprints that were splayed across the workbench.

"_Castersmith huh? Seems more like a slightly better than average inventor to me. Maybe it's just a title and he doesn't make any Caster items at all?"_ Gene pondered as he sifted through another pile of sketches. There were various modifications to each one, tiny scribbles noting each component and what it should do in theory and then next to them in big red ink were the faults and mistakes that had occurred through their testing. _"The kid is unorganized but pretty damn meticulous when it comes to getting things right. I wonder how many of these things have ever seen the light of day outside of this workshop?"_ The redhead's attention was caught by an overstuffed notebook in the corner slot of the bench. He thumbed it open and saw rough sketches of something he thought looked familiar but couldn't quite identify, and leafed through the pages until he hit the latest entry. _"Looks like this was just written today, jeez, so many attempts to make this thing work. Tsunade really wasn't joking when it was this kid's fault for those couple blackouts earlier today. What __**is **__this thing?" _Gene's eyes widened a bit as he saw the title: Caster Cannon. He slowly closed the notebook and placed it back in it's slot, thinking over what he had just seen.

"_Okay, so the kid really __**is**__ a Castersmith. A crazy inventive one at that, unlike those two pervs and hottie I met at the hot springs of planet Tenrai. No wonder the Kei Pirates want this guy, he probably has enough firepower or even just ideas for possible weapons in his head that would make any mercenary shit themselves for a taste of this power. It's amazing that the military hasn't jumped on the bandwagon yet, and I hope to god it stays that way."_ A small hand held an outstretched cup of instant ramen towards him, startling Gene out of his thoughts.

"You okay Gene?" Melfina asked with concern. Gene took the warm cup in his hands and gave a grateful smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay Mel. Thanks for lunch!" He said as he grabbed the chopsticks on top of the lid and slurped down the salty, yet still delicious, food. Quickly finishing and tossing his cup in the trash, Gene called out to the cheery blond, "Hey Naruto, I have a few questions I need to ask you."

Naruto's head popped out from behind the kitchen doorway on the left and he came walking out with his own cups of ramen, noisily finishing one and immediately starting the other with obvious joy. "Ya, wha' ith et?" He said while gulping and slurping loudly. Gene grimaced at the kid's lack of manners but put those thoughts aside as he decided to jump to business.

"Look, I need to know, how much do you know about Casters?" Gene pulled out his own Caster pistol, placing it on the workbench before him. Naruto's gaze shifted to the weapon as he almost dropped his cup in surprise and hurriedly finished it off before replying back, his eyes never leaving the weapon.

"...I know a lot about 'em. I made them for quite a few years of my life, steadily gaining enough knowledge to even crafting my own models after a while." He walked towards the bench and stared at the Caster on his bench. "Man, this Caster looks like shi-.." His voice trailed off as he whirled back towards Gene, "Where did you get this?"

Gene's eyebrows rose at the strange question, "Uh, from my holster right here on my belt." Naruto scowled at the man.

"Idiot, you know what I mean!" He shouted. Jim walked up to the group, sipping the last of his broth and noodles with a content sigh.

"Oh, that?" Jim pointed towards the gun. "I bought that for Gene back around when we first met, since I knew that if we were going to be a jack-of-all-trades business, he was going to need a lot more firepower than something as simple as a regular pistol."

Naruto turned his glare at his new friend, slight anger seeping into his voice, "Where did you buy it?"

Jim held his hands out in front of himself, "I just remember buying it at some seedy downtown black market area. No other shops would let me buy a firearm so I had to look for a less reputable place where all they care about is money. I remember thinking that it was just perfect for Gene since it had power enough for taking on practically anything, and while the ammo was rare I got it for a really low price."

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself. "Sorry about flying off the handle. This is one of the first prototype models I made back as an apprentice. It was stolen by some thieves one night believing it to be worth millions like my master's work. I was pretty pissed off to say the least. It was the first model that had my own designs and everything. So to see it suddenly here again, that's pretty weird." He let out a small chuckle.

Melfina came to the bench and picked up the weapon gently, "So this was a prototype? It wasn't even fully completed?" She opened the chamber with the gracefulness of an amateur and pointed her sights on some imaginary foe. She giggled and placed it back down on the bench before taking her turn in the grav-chair.

Naruto looked thoughtfully at the gun and picked it up, twisting it around in his hands before pointing out to Gene his small initials 'U.N.' and his personal smith symbol. Hard to believe, but Gene was impressed. "Well, looks like I finally know who made my Caster. Uzumaki Naruto, crazed inventor and Castersmith. What's this symbol anyway?" He pointed towards the small red number nine surrounded several swirls and tiny characters.

Naruto gave a small grin, "That's my insignia! I thought of it myself!"

"What's it mean?" Gene asked. The blond's cheerful smile slipped and he forced a change of subjects.

"Uh, yeah! I forgot to mention, other than my personal technologies, I have been working on some experimental Caster ammo!" His hand glowed briefly as he swiped the air quickly, forming bright blue symbols and shapes Gene had never seen before. A door appeared in the air and Naruto opened it, gesturing the three to walk in, or in Melfina's case, ride in with the chair.

The door closed behind him and Gene turned around to ask what he just did but Naruto held up a hand and said, "No, I'll answer it later on. Come on, if you liked my prototype model, you have to check out the latest that I have been tooling around with." A glint of mischief and something else seemed to flash in his bright blue eyes as he lead them down a long steel hallway, their steps echoing lightly on the polished metal floor. Naruto opened the door at the end, ushering them inside without a word. Bright white lights flared on, forcing everyone's eyes to adjust yet again. They were in what appeared to be a large shooting range. Holographic displays hummed as Naruto powered up the machines, typing in complex algorithms that made Gene's head swim. The blond turned back around and rushed into another back room, returning with a medium sized steel case. He placed it on a nearby table and opened it, letting the three crowd around and stare while he continued working on other projects, trying to keep his ego in check as he listened to the 'oohs' behind him.

Inside the case was a Caster of similar shape and size to Gene's, but it had a polished gold look and was fitted with two barrels and loading chambers. Separated in a single row, a few spaces apart from one another were various Caster rounds. Gene picked up the gun and held it in his hand, pointing it forward at the wall, squinting down the sights with one eye closed. "This is amazing Naruto! This Caster feels so much lighter than mine, despite the fact that it has an extra barrel."

"I learned from the mistakes of my earlier models and eventually found the right combination of alloys and minerals to make a sturdy yet lightweight gun metal." Naruto stared with amusement as Jim and Melfina picked up a few of the Caster rounds. "Those are my some of my most recent successes. They are not on the market since they are a bitch to make, but they are more powerful than pretty much any regular Caster round in my humble opinion." Gene looked at him incredulously.

"You gotta be shitting me," he deadpanned.

"Nope." Naruto walked over and calmly extracted the gun from Gene's unwilling fingers and took out a transparent round, a round filled with a blue liquid, and one filled with a grey haze. "These," He held out his palm with the three shells, "are what I call Chakra Casters." He paused and continued as everyone's attention was on him at the moment. "I imbue these rounds with various techniques that I was taught and seal all of their power inside so when I place them inside and fire them…" He took the liquid filled round and inserted it into one chamber and pointed it at the target in the shooting range, "They release all of that power in one shot like a normal Caster round, but I recently was able to refine the technique, enabling me to retain more energy that what could normally have been accomplished. It might not sound like much, so here is a demonstration." He steadied himself and held the Caster in both hands and pulled the trigger. Something that could only be considered a loud, angry roar reverberated through the air as an immense spiraling dragon made of pure water smashed into the target and hit the wall past it at the far end with a thundering splash. No one said anything for a minute.

"Holy shit." Gene whispered as he stared at the damage done to the dummy target and the far wall. The dummy was ripped off its post and crushed into the wall, staying there from the sheer force of the impact alone. Jim was silently gazing at the other rounds, imagining what other kinds of destructive power could possibly be held within the tiny shells. Melfina had gripped Gene's hand after hearing the roar and Gene pulled her closer to him to comfort her. She was shivering, from fear or the flash of cold that flowed back from the water dragon, he didn't know but he held her close either way.

"Um, are you guys okay?" Naruto asked worriedly. Gene composed himself as best as he could and nodded towards the young inventor. The blond's face was marred by a frown and the feeling of elation he had demonstrating his work was shattered when he saw Melfina's shaking form. "Well, as you can see, I still need to tone down the power a bit. It's why these things are still being tested ya know? I can't have people all of a sudden buying these off the shelves and destroying cities for the hell of it. No, this technology is mine alone and it's not going public. I would only use it if I absolutely had to, for multiple reasons." He stared off into space, thinking about something else. He blinked and put the gun and the other rounds away, locking it up and swiping a few symbols over it. The case glowed in response and he nodded in approval, hefting it and taking it back into storage.

Naruto soon appeared back out and tried to give as cheerful a smile as possible, apologizing to Melfina. "Hey Melfina, I'm sorry if that scared you. I didn't think that it would give off such a loud roar to be honest, I'm sorry." He looked downcast as he swiped his hand through the air once more, creating a door returning them back to his workshop.

"Naruto," Melfina spoke up, recovering from her shock, "It's alright, I mean, you were just demonstrating your achievements, something that you had worked so hard to complete. Don't feel bad, I was just not expecting such a mighty roar to come out of nowhere." She let out a small laugh, visibly cheering up the blond.

"All right! Next time expect the unexpected because that is Uzumaki Naruto's trademark style!" He said with a fox-like grin. Melfina laughed some more, thinking that having him around might not be so bad after all.

Jim had taken over the chair riding this time out and ran it up and over the walls and ceiling for a while before stopping in front of the group and looking over at Naruto. "Hey Naruto," the boy asked cautiously, "What is it exactly that you do that makes you able to summon doorways and items?"

Gene nodded, folding his arms, awaiting an answer, "Yeah, that's been puzzling me this whole time we've been here. It almost seems like magic."

"Is it something like the Taoist magic?" Melfina inquired. Naruto resisted the urge to sigh and knew this was bound to come up.

"It's kind of like Tao magic, but it's a different form of energy and there is no chanting involved. I use chakra, the general life force in everything, and use various seals that I was taught by my master. The seals vary in complexity but they all have different purposes depending on what I have to do. For summoning an item, I find an item I need either in plan view or something recent from my memory and assign it a specific set of seals, one for the mass, one for the general amount of energy required to move it where I need it, and another for location. It's much easier to do something in plain view since I know what it looks like and can give a good guess on how much energy to use plus location usually is easy to consider most times. If it is for something really large however, I can only do it once or twice and I get exhausted. These doors to my various work places are much easier for me to do after several years of practice. The other application is for containing something. It's how I created those Chakra Casters. Took me a few months to just make one of those things. That's about the gist of it." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. Gene had a bit go over his head but still understood the basic concept, Jim was nodding thoughtfully, and Melfina asked for another demonstration.

Naruto decided it would be easiest to show than talk about it. He gathered the energy and concentrated it all on his hands, holding them out in front of the others to show the process. Gathering enough energy he slowly moved his hand through the air, making the necessary symbol and corresponding characters so they left trails in the light that could be seen by the human eye. Melfina gave a small gasp in astonishment and Naruto felt a bit of heat rise to his cheeks in embarrassment as he continued showing the other two symbols required for the door to the front of the shop. The door once again appeared from thin air and he let the energy gradually fade from his hands. Naruto wiped a few small beads of sweat from his brow, giving a tired smile, "Looks like I have pushed myself a bit too much while showing you guys around."

Gene gave the goggled blond a hearty pat on the back and gave his own weary smile, "Hey, we've all had a long day, thanks for showing us around though, good to know you are capable of protecting your own ass if it ever comes down to it. There are a couple other crew members you have to meet before we head over to Heifong III, so come on, they are probably already back waiting for us." Naruto nodded before grabbing his favorite orange mug and quickly dumping the ancient coffee down the sink in the kitchen, a seal shimmering on it as he left it on the counter. Quickly grabbing his notebook from his workbench, he reached for the doorknob to open it when he heard the old bell give its familiar_ ping_. Naruto straightened himself out as best as he could once more, spouting his slogan as he walked through the door.

Before Gene and the others walked through the door, they heard a low voice growl, "Are you the one named Uzumaki Naruto?"

A familiar scoff was heard as the blond replied back impatiently, "Who wants to know? If you've got business with me just tell me already."

The voice answered coldy, "My name is Zabuza, mercenary for hire, and I am here on behalf of the Kei Pirates to collect your head." Gene had already burst through the door and raised his caster as a large hooded figure threw back his cloak to reveal an extremely large gun, no, make that a damn _cannon_. He hefted it with the ease of any skilled mercenary and a smile formed underneath the bandages covering the lower half of his head. The crazed look in his eyes appeared to grow darker as the gun, Kubikiri Houchou, Gene noticed absently, began to charge with an unearthly green light. A flash went off accompanied by a roaring blast as Gene stood guard in front of Naruto and activated his light shield gloves to full power while the blond stared as the blast knocked both of them into each other to crash into a heap behind the counter.

"_Damn, what kind of fucking gun __**is**__ that?" _Gene thought, wincing at the burning pain as his gloves were destroyed by that single round.

Zabuza sneered and pointed the gun downwards upon them but a sudden wh_ack_ was heard and the mercenary's eyes rolled backwards as he collapsed onto the counter unconscious. Jim and Melfina rushed through the door as Gene and Naruto stood up shakily.

"Gene, Naruto, are you two alright?" Melfina asked, looking them over for any injuries.

"Yeah, we're okay Mel. My gloves are busted but the fact that they survived that bastard's cannon is testament to their ability." Gene glanced over to Naruto who rubbed his head and hissed at the large bump that had started to form.

"Gene, are you okay?" A calm, cool, feminine voice asked. Gene finally saw his savior, the infamous assassin 'Twilight' Suzuka, holding her bokken in her steady grasp. She was a tall and very slender woman with pale skin, dark brown eyes, and long black hair tied into a ponytail, the rest of her hair being held back by a red headband. She had a rather flawless white kimono with a red trim, an orange shawl draped on her shoulders, and had bandages wrapped all over her torso. She gave a tiny smile and nodded towards the now unconscious mercenary. "Aisha and I saw this creep stalking around your headquarters, and knowing your habit of making such wonderful friends, we followed him around until we found you guys." The woman pushed a small strand of hair out of her eyes and called over her shoulder, "Aisha, no need to ambush, come on in and throw this guy outside."

The Ctarl Ctarl named Aisha ClanClan popped out from behind the aisles of merchandise and gave a mock salute to Suzuka, "Aye Aye, Captain!" She said with a fake gruff growl. She was a rather buxom tan skinned woman with green eyes and yellowish-white hair tied into a long braided ponytail that reached down near her knees with a gold hoop at the end. She wore a green mini skirt and brown blouse and had long brown cat ears. The protruding ears were what caught Naruto's attention first. He pointed at her and began to stammer, shaking even harder than before his meeting with Zabuza.

"C-C-C-C-Cat! Get away from me!" He cried out, quickly rushing back into his workshop leaving a stunned Aisha behind as Gene, Melfina and Jim attempted to get him back outside.

Aisha looked around confusedly and pointed to herself, "Wha? What did I do?"

* * *

A/N: Okay, done with finals at last so hopefully updates like this will be a bit more common! Once again thanks to my beta for the immense help in editing. Let me know what you guys think so far!


	4. Dinner and stories

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Outlaw Star

A car sped along on the highway at a smooth clip, flowing past what little traffic there was in the evening hours. The sun was setting and soon, the moon would rise up to take its rightful place in the sky. Lights flickered on as the city's night life rose from the grave. Jim was driving while Melfina sat peacefully in Gene's lap, resting her head sleepily on his shoulder. Suzuka and Aisha were sitting in the backseat with a near hysteric inventor tied up between them.

The young man let out muffled grumbles from behind his cloth gag and occasionally gave wary glances to the CtarlCtarl on his right. She saw his stares and stuck her tongue out at him mockingly. It had taken a while, but the group had somehow been able to convince Naruto that Aisha wasn't in the store anymore. Unfortunately, it was a trap. As he walked out with a thankful grin, Aisha pounced on him, resulting in a minor struggle as he was bound, gagged, and shoved into the backseat of the car.

So here he sat, captured by his own bodyguards. He was alert for a while until he grew too tired to keep a vigil. The rumbling motion of the swaying vehicle lulled him to sleep after a long and eventful day. Gene looked back to see how the kid was doing and saw him dozing while leaning on the very object of his ire. They looked at each other and gave small shrugs before Gene turned back around. A tiny smile crept on Aisha's mouth as she felt Naruto snuggle closer, lightly snoring despite the gag. The crew of the Outlaw Star enjoyed the brief moment of peace and quiet on the road home.

* * *

The car parked outside the Starwind and Hawking Enterprises building. Gene opened the door and picked up a drowsy Melfina who gave a small squeak in surprise, and quickly placed her back down with a grin. Jim grabbed his keys and stretched, giving a large yawn in the process while Suzuka got out and began walking immediately towards the building. Aisha yanked Naruto from the middle and carried him cradled under one arm as the blond awoke with a start and flailed about uselessly in her grasp. A couple passing by murmured in worry at the sight of the hogtied boy, thinking they should call the police. Gene waved and gave a cheery smile.

"Ah don't worry about him folks, he's in good hands!" The couple stared at the red haired man as if he were crazy and hurried along their way at a faster pace.

Melfina gave him a small slap on the shoulder, "Gene, you're going to scare someone someday and they're going to call the cops on you!"

Gene gave a chuckle towards her, "Don't worry Mel, what are the cops going to do when they find out we're just a simple bunch of business owners?"

She stared back at him, "They would lock us up! It's already strange enough that we have a CtarlCtarl, a Class A assassin, a tech genius, a pilot and me, a bioandroid. Now we're walking in, carrying a young man tied and gagged like it's an everyday occurrence?" Gene couldn't help but laugh at how serious the woman was, and how dead on she described their ragtag group.

"Haha, you're right Mel, next time we come back how about we make Jim wear a clown costume for kicks?"

The woman didn't know what to say until the boy who had been standing next to Gene gave him a quick stomp on the foot, objecting, "Oh yeah, like hell I will Gene! I wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that!" The boy stormed off in a huff while Melfina began laughing at the mental image of Jim honking a big red nose. Gene winced as his foot was stepped on for the third time that day by the brat and put his arm around Melfina's shoulder as they walked inside.

* * *

The group had settled into their normal routines once they were inside. Suzuka calmly sipped on warm green tea out of her favorite cup. Aisha began to play her favorite portable dating sim game, while Gene cleaned his equipment while sighing at his now broken gloves, Jim entered the new payment estimate into the accounting books with a satisfied "Yes!" coming from behind his monitor as their finances finally took a turn for the better, and Melfina hummed a tune as she cooked dinner.

Naruto watched it all from his seat on the sofa before finally spitting out the cloth gag. "Will someone _please_ untie me already?!" He shouted. Gene walked over and leaned right down next to Naruto as he gathered air into his lungs and let out an oddly soft-spoken "No". However, instead of getting a rise out of the blond inventor, Naruto just reared his head back and rammed it into Gene's face. "Geez, no need to get all upset," Gene said as he grudgingly took out his small knife and cut the rope and Naruto rubbed his hands gingerly, trying to ease the aches he felt from being roughly tied up by the cat woman. He glared at Aisha who was enraptured by her game. He could hear the constant confessions of the male protagonist and the angry rejections from the women that denied him as she lost, her face contorting in frustration before she tossed it to the side with a huff.

The aromas from the various foods in the kitchen set Naruto's stomach growling; it had been a while since the ramen at his workshop. The fact that it was all homemade and smelled absolutely _delicious_ made his mouth water even more. He sat upright as Melfina came out carrying a large tray of food to a wide circular table nearby. The rest of the crew immediately stopped what they were doing and walked calmly to the table, all except for Naruto and Aisha who were the first to arrive at the table and slide into a chair, waiting the other dishes to arrive with a ravenous gleam in their eyes.

Gene gave Naruto a quick pat on the shoulder, "Looks like someone's hungry. You act like you haven't had a decent meal in years!" He laughed.

The blond shrugged off his hand before smiling back, "I actually haven't had a home cooked meal since I was 10. My diet consists mostly of eating ramen, more or less." Everyone gawked at him and he soon felt uncomfortable under so many gazes at once and decided to give Melfina a hand. Melfina was in the small built-in kitchen, filling a large bowl of soup for the table.

"Hey Melfina, need a hand bringing stuff out to the table?" He asked cheerfully. Melfina looked at him and gave a quick smile.

"Sure Naruto, here," She said while handing him two plates filled with an assortment of food piled on.

Naruto gave a quick smile, happy to be of help to someone else, and carefully walked back to the table, placing the food down in the center (while inconspicuously stealing a few morsels for himself). After a few more trips to and from the kitchen, the table was set and Naruto and Melfina sat down with the others. Not quite knowing how he should act, Naruto decided to grab whatever looked appetizing. Grabbing his chopsticks and holding his plate in his other hand, he deftly scooped up a bit of everything, not noticing that the others, besides Aisha, just stared as he ate to his heart's content.

"Aw man, looks like we have _another_ ravenous eater here. Good thing this job is paying a lot, otherwise we'd be even more in debt. I should start charging for meals…" Gene muttered before hurrying to pick as much food as he could for himself. Melfina, Jim, and Suzuka immediately followed, choosing the amount they were planning to eat and quietly munched away while Naruto and Aisha were grabbing whatever was left.

"I understand Aisha's large appetite but I never imagined Naruto to have the same," Suzuka remarked while sipping her tea after her meal. Most of the plates were soon empty and Naruto and Aisha began arguing over who got what, their hands a blur as they shoved more food into their mouths. Finally the last of the spring rolls came into view and Naruto glanced at Aisha with an unheard challenge and both attacked the defenseless morsel simultaneously.

"Move it Blondie! That's mine!" Aisha shouted while dueling her chopsticks with Naruto's.

He fought back with his own chopsticks while shouting back, "You already ate enough, it's mine!"

"_I_ ate enough? I am a growing CtarlCtarl, and we need our energy for battle!"

"What battles? You aren't in a life or death situation right now, and I doubt you will grow anymore!"

The heated argument continued until a single pair of chopsticks swept up the remaining roll. Suzuka chewed on in slowly, just to rile the two up some more. "You two are much too noisy. I'll just save you the trouble and enjoy it myself before it gets cold." She smirked as their faces stared in shock and the assassin popped the final bite into her mouth before swallowing and silently moving her plate to the kitchen. She returned and murmured good night and walked around to her room on the first floor and slowly closed the door behind her. Gene grinned, thankful that he didn't have to listen to those two's petty argument anymore. He picked up Jim and Melfina's plates and set them in the sink before returning back to cleaning his equipment under a lamplight. Melfina slid out of her chair and gave a sleepy good night to everyone before walking up the steps to her room. Jim let out another yawn, waved goodbye and shuffled off to his room as well.

Naruto and Aisha slowly rose out of their chairs and set their plates in the kitchen sink before Aisha let out a small chuckle. "You know, you're the first human I have seen ever match a Ctarl's appetite. I'm impressed," She grinned.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the cat woman while slowly backing away, "Uh, thanks?" She gave him a hearty pat on the back, almost making his knees buckle.

"You're welcome Blondie!" She laughed as she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bed in the alcoves. He walked out to the living area and sat on a sofa across from Gene.

"Man, Melfina is one hell of a cook." Naruto sighed contently.

The redhead gave a small smile while inserting a couple rounds into a pistol magazine, "Yeah, she picked it all up really fast. She really is amazing." Naruto gave a grin.

"So how did you two meet?" He asked while leaning back into the sofa.

Gene put the finished magazine to the side and let out a breath, "It's a long story." The young blond shrugged.

"I got time don't I? Tell me." He said, his blue eyes glimmering with alertness in the lamplight.

"Well, Jim and I were running our business as usual when we get this call from a woman named Rachel who said that she needed to have some bodyguards and parts delivered. We took it and long story short she was the infamous outlaw Hot Ice Hilda running from the Kei Pirates for having stolen two very valuable items."

Naruto sat forward, listening intently as the man continued. "Turns out, the metal case she was carrying had this woman inside of it. It was Melfina. She was woken up from a deep sleep and had no idea who she was. So after having a slight skirmish with the Pirates, we escaped with Hilda to Blue Heaven. Hilda showed us the ship she stole and hid away in an asteroid field, the XGP something or other and..."

"And what?" Naruto asked.

"The Kei Pirates found us and in order to save us, Hilda sacrificed herself." Gene's hands clenched tightly. "I wish there was something that I could have done, but the past is past." Naruto nodded in silent agreement.

"So you, Jim, and Melfina got this ship and then what?"

Gene smiled, "Well a lot of things happened. I got the ship repainted and christened it the Outlaw Star, doing some side jobs for my friend Fred Luo for some cash including having to duel with Suzuka."

Naruto grinned at that statement. "Able to survive someone as dangerous as her? I feel a bit safer already."

Gene gave a scoff, "You mean you didn't trust me before?"

The blond shook his head. "Not that much, you won that fight with the mercenary back there more with luck than anything else." He glanced over at the gloves, feeling a bit guilty that they were ruined. Deciding to change the subject back, he said, "So how did those two eventually add on as your crew?"

"Suzuka tagged along because someone in the Kei Pirates had murdered her family, so she was seeking revenge and eventually got it. Afterwards, she decided to stay with us because it's exciting or something. Aisha demanded that we pay her back for ruining her military career after running right past her with Hilda when being chased by the pirates. She was Ambassador for the CtarlCtarl Empire at the time, charged with finding the Galactic Leyline, but once they found out she lost Hot Ice Hilda they stuck her on Blue Heaven to look for 'clues' as punishment."

Naruto gave a small wince, "Ouch, way to destroy someone's life Gene."

Gene frowned before shrugging, "Well, it wasn't like I had it planned. Besides, now she is here under our care and enjoying a mostly carefree life compared to being a stuck up military person." The comment earned him a large pillow to the face, thrown down by a rather angry Ctarl.

"You forget that being a part of the military is a great honor for us Ctarl!" She huffed and slunk back to her alcove. Gene gingerly rubbed his nose while glaring up above. Naruto held in a snicker and mentally noted not to step on the woman's pride. Gene turned back to the inventor and tossed him the pillow. Naruto caught it and placed it behind his head while giving his favorite grin.

"So eventually Aisha saved our asses a few times over and joined up like I said, until we repay her for the damages. We started looking for information regarding Melfina and soon found that there were connections to the Galactic Leyline, leading us to a long trip across space and back, getting into fights with the Kei Pirates special unit 'The Anten Seven'. Eventually we found our way into the Galactic Leyline and after fighting the last of the Seven and saving the universe, we came back home."

Naruto was struggling to think of a proper way to phrase his awe but settled with a low whistle. "Sounds like you guys have quite a bit under your belt then. This kind of bodyguard and escort mission must be a piece of cake then."

Gene gave a proud smile, "Yeah, don't worry, we'll have you to Heifong III sooner than you know it. Plus, if those Kei Pirates come around again for you, I'll be much more prepared this time around. In space or on the ground." Naruto chuckled at his confidence and nodded in approval.

"I'll hold you to it then." He stretched out on the sofa, pulling off his goggles and placing them gently on the table. He fluffed the pillow under his head and turned inwardly to face the sofa as he closed his eyes.

"Hey Naruto?" Gene asked. A questioning grunt came from the blond. "Why are you so afraid of Aisha?" Naruto turned around and blinked before stating in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Cats are abominations of evil and have caused me nothing but misery in the past."

Gene stared, not quite sure what to think of his answer. Deciding to not dig any further into the reasoning, he changed the subject, "So tell me then, what's your story?"

"Hrm…I have no likes or dislikes and dreams for the future...well, I've got a lot of hobbies," Naruto shrugged.

Gene raised an eyebrow. "Come on now, I'm trying to be serious here!"

"Alright, alright!" Naruto said as he crossed his arms in thought, "I was raised by no one in particular, drifting from place to place as soon as I was able to survive on my own. One day I saw this old man dueling with some random thug and the old man pulled out a Caster, although at the time I had no idea. He fired a single round and after a huge flash of light, the thug was nothing more than a smoldering crater on the ground." Gene's eyes gave a hardened stare, understanding the destructive power of a Caster.

"I followed that man, in both because of awe and curiosity, perhaps even boredom, and pestered him to teach me about the weapon he used. Turned out he was a Castersmith and soon accepted me to be his apprentice but only after I agreed to never tell a soul the techniques of his craft. He even made me sign a contract sealed with my own blood as a way of insuring it. If I broke the contract...." His voice lowered as his gaze looked to nowhere. Gene gave a small nod to show he understood.

"So after you apprenticed with him for a few years, you soon got the hang of seals as well?" Gene asked.

"Yeah. I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn a bit more than some of the basics of seals for smithing. My master seemed to really enjoy my enthusiasm and taught me as much as he could before he had to go." Naruto's features darkened with a calm sadness.

"Why did he have to go?" Gene asked quietly.

"He said that it was to find something important. Something that could help everyone." He stared up at Gene. "I think he was looking for the Leyline too." Gene frowed, puzzled as to why a master Castersmith would leave his apprentice behind to search for the Galactic Leyline.

Gene nodded after filing the information away for later, "Well, maybe Jiraiya has something to say about it?"

Naruto closed his eyes again before chuckling, "Possibly, he did have a knack for finding information, whether is be where girls like to spend their time frolicking or the latest in military advancements." Gene smirked at the statement.

"Well, looks like we'll have to go see him right away then."

"Perv."

Gene let out a quiet chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Kid, get some sleep. You get to see our beloved Outlaw Star in the morning!" He grinned as he switched off the lamp and strode upstairs, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over Naruto before turning in for the night.

* * *

A/N: Okay, a new chapter up just in time! Happy holidays everyone! As always, thanks to my beta for all the help, and let me know what you guys think, whether its good or bad. It just helps me improve! The next chapter will have more action and suspense, so watch out!


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